IF YOUR CHILD IS MISSING, please contact the law enforcement agency of jurisdiction at the place of disappearance and file a missing person report immediately! Often the first 24 hours are the most critical for locating a missing child. Local law enforcement must also be notified before MPU can become involved.
If you have reported a missing child and need assistance in locating the child, contact MPU at 1-800-543-5678 or MPU@wsp.wa.gov.

You will also need to file a report with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Website: http://www.ncmec.org/

What You Can Do If Your Child is Missing:
If the child is missing from home, begin by thoroughly searching the house. Be sure to check any places a child could crawl, hide, and possibly fall asleep.
If your child disappears when you are away from home — at a shopping center, for example — notify the manager of the store and the security office. Request assistance in finding your child. Then telephone the police immediately.
If your child has run away, contact friends of the child; chances are good they've confided their plans to a friend. This information should be provided to law enforcement.
When talking with law enforcement, try to stay calm. Identify yourself, and give your location. Ask that an officer be sent to take a report on your missing child.
Be prepared to give descriptive information on your child including name, height, weight, and date of birth. Also provide information on specific identifiers such as eye glasses, braces, pierced ears, and a description of the clothing your child was last seen wearing.
Listen carefully to the instructions of the police and respond to their questions.
Request that your child be immediately entered into the National Crime Information Center's (NCIC) Missing Person File. This will assist other law enforcement agencies in identifying your if they are located in another community.
Contact the Washington State Patrol Missing Persons Unit. You may contact the program by calling 1-800-543-5678.
Contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by calling their nationwide toll free number 1-800-THE-LOST.

TITLE 13. JUVENILE COURTS AND JUVENILE OFFENDERS
CHAPTER 13.60. MISSING CHILDREN CLEARINGHOUSE
§ 13.60.010. Missing children clearinghouse -- Hot line -- Distribution of information
The Washington state patrol shall establish a missing children clearinghouse which shall include the maintenance and operation of a toll-free, twenty-four-hour telephone hotline. The clearinghouse shall distribute information to local law enforcement agencies, school districts, the department of social and health services, and the general public regarding missing children. The information shall include pictures, bulletins, training sessions, reports, and biographical materials that will assist in local law enforcement efforts to locate missing children. The state patrol shall also maintain a regularly updated computerized link with national and other statewide missing person systems or clearinghouses.
"Child" or "children," as used in this chapter, means an individual under eighteen years of age.
§ 13.60.020. Entry of information on missing children into missing person computer network -- Access
Local law enforcement agencies shall file an official missing person report and enter biographical information into the state missing person computerized network within twelve hours after notification of a missing child is received under *RCW 13.32A.050 (1), (3), or (4). The patrol shall collect such information as will enable it to retrieve immediately the following information about a missing child: Name, date of birth, social security number, fingerprint classification, relevant physical descriptions, and known associates and locations. Access to the preceding information shall be available to appropriate law enforcement agencies, and to parents and legal guardians, when appropriate.
§ 13.60.030. Information and education regarding missing children -- Plan
The superintendent of public instruction shall meet semiannually with the Washington state patrol to develop a coordinated plan for the distribution of information and education of teachers and students in the school districts of the state regarding the missing children problem in the state. The superintendent of public instruction shall encourage local school districts to cooperate by providing the state patrol information on any missing children that may be identified within the district.
§ 13.60.040. Children receiving services from department of social and health services -- Reporting by the department -- Notification of child's whereabouts
The department of social and health services shall develop a procedure for reporting missing children information to the missing children clearinghouse on children who are receiving departmental services in each of its administrative regions. The purpose of this procedure is to link parents to missing children. When the department has obtained information that a minor child has been located at a facility funded by the department, the department shall notify the clearinghouse and the child's legal custodian, advising the custodian of the child's whereabouts or that the child is subject to a dependency action. The department shall inform the clearinghouse when reunification occurs.

TITLE 13. JUVENILE COURTS AND JUVENILE OFFENDERS
CHAPTER 13.60. MISSING CHILDREN CLEARINGHOUSE
Rev. Code Wash. (ARCW) § 13.60.100 (2005)
§ 13.60.100. Task force on missing and exploited children -- Findings, intent
The legislature finds a compelling need to address the problem of missing children, whether those children have been abducted by a stranger, are missing due to custodial interference, or are classified as runaways. Washington state ranks twelfth in the nation for active cases of missing juveniles and, at any given time, more than one thousand eight hundred Washington children are reported as missing. The potential for physical and psychological trauma to these children is extreme. Therefore, the legislature finds that it is paramount for the safety of these children that there be a concerted effort to resolve cases of missing and exploited children.
Due to the complexity of many child abduction cases, most law enforcement personnel are unprepared and lack adequate resources to successfully and efficiently investigate these crimes. Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature that a multiagency task force be established within the Washington state patrol, to be available to assist local jurisdictions in missing child cases through referrals, on-site assistance, case management, and training. The legislature intends that the task force will increase the effectiveness of a specific case investigation by drawing from the combined resources, knowledge, and technical expertise of the members of the task force.

§ 13.60.110. Task force on missing and exploited children -- Establishment -- Activities -- Annual reports
(1) A task force on missing and exploited children is established in the Washington state patrol. The task force shall be under the direction of the chief of the state patrol.
(2) The task force is authorized to assist law enforcement agencies, upon request, in cases involving missing or exploited children by:
(a) Direct assistance and case management;
(b) Technical assistance;
(c) Personnel training;
(d) Referral for assistance from local, state, national, and international agencies; and
(e) Coordination and information sharing among local, state, interstate, and federal law enforcement and social service agencies.
(3) To maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of state resources and to improve interagency cooperation, the task force shall, where feasible, use existing facilities, systems, and staff made available by the state patrol and other local, state, interstate, and federal law enforcement and social service agencies. The chief of the state patrol may employ such additional personnel as are necessary for the work of the task force and may share personnel costs with other agencies.
(4) The chief of the state patrol shall seek public and private grants and gifts to support the work of the task force.
(5) By December 1, 2001, and annually thereafter, the chief of the state patrol shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of the legislature. The report shall establish performance measurements and objectives for the task force and assess the accomplishments of the task force.
(6) For the purposes of RCW 13.60.100 through 13.60.120, "exploited children" means children under the age of eighteen who are employed, used, persuaded, induced, enticed, or coerced to
engage in, or assist another person to engage in, sexually explicit conduct. "Exploited children" also means the rape, molestation, or use for prostitution of children under the age of eighteen.